United 4 AC Milan 0: Player ratings

10 March 2010 10:33

Viewed : 78

Van der Sar: Dealt expertly with Pirlo's swerving shot on 20 minutes. Showed his awareness blocking yesterday's United hero Beckham's spectacular long-range effort 7[LNB] Neville: Surprise starter but played as if he's out to catch Capello's eye and win a place on the plane to South Africa. Brilliant cross to find Rooney for the opener. Red Nev was back to his best. 8[LNB] Ferdinand: Stroll in the park for the England skipper which is amazing when you consider the quality of the opposition strikers. Didn't clear properly as Milan battled to avoid total embarrassment and Beckham connected to test Van der Sar. 7 [LNB] Vidic: Fully committed as demonstrated with the clash of heads with Flamini. His partnership with Rio looked solid and it is such a pity, according to an increasing number of reports, he may well be off to sunnier climes in the summer. 7 Evra: With Milan playing so deep with infrequent attacks the world's most accomplished left back had a quiet game. Perhaps he was under orders not to get forward too much. Nothing much to do until Beckham entered the fray. 7[LNB] Fletcher: Acres of space in midfield which he patrolled with authority. Key tackle as Pirlo was about to pounce just before the interval and then went on within a minute to almost score United's second with a strike narrowly wide. Bossed the show and who better to seal a famous victory? 8[LNB] Scholes: Relished and took full advantage to finish the job he started with that fluke goal in the San Siro first leg. Neat triangles all night and didn't really need to get involved in any rough stuff which more often than not ends up in him being booked. Did see yellow however for kicking ball away. Set up Park with superbly weighted pass as the Reds dominated. 8[LNB] Park: Eager beaver who often gets the nod for the big games. His industry plays a key part in Fergie's master planning, particularly with the way he kept danger man Pirlo relatively quiet. This guy just never ever stops running which is so important to the team. Fully deserved to get on the scoresheet following an all-action show. 8[LNB] Valencia: Lots of room down the right to exploit¦and he did early on. For once it was Nani who won the battle of the wingers. It was like United of a bygone age with two wide men for a full 90 minutes.Desperately tried to get among the scorers on a famous European night. 7[LNB] Nani: Ridiculous header trying to clear on the edge of the box set up Ronaldinho for early Milan chance. Tried to redeem himself a minute later with long range effort that forced Abbiati save. That early blunder was most certainly forgotten was the exquisite cross just after the break with the outside of his foot to set up the Rooney Monster's killer second goal. 7[LNB] Rooney: ITV commentator likened him to the King Denis Law for the excellent goal-scoring form he's in adding accurate heading to his repertoire. Maybe with 30 goals already this season he's going to take over that mantle. Not much sign of a knee injury with the leap for his first or the pace to get on the end of Nani's cross for the second. 9[LNB] Subs: Berbatov (Rooney 66) game virtually over when he came on but still showed deft touchches. Unlucky not to get starting place as he's in a rich vein of form. [LNB] Rafael (Neville 66) Milan's threat had faded and what there was was thanks to Beckham on the other flank. [LNB] Gibson (Scholes 72) Two shots but no luck. Rare chance to test himself against big names who failed to live up to their reputations [LNB] Subs not used: Kuszczak, Da Silva, Jonathan Evans, Obertan, Diouf. AC Milan: Abbiati, Abate(Beckahm 64), Bonera(for Seedorf 45), Thiago Silva, Jankulovski, Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Huntelaar, Borriello( Inzaghi 68), Ronaldinho. Subs: Dida, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Favalli.[LNB] Battle of the bosses: Fergie's determination to play the traditional attacking United way was rewarded when Rooney's opener left Leonardo's aristocrats needing three goals to keep their Euro dreams alive. Milan should have started with Beckham who would obviously have been out to impress back at Old Trafford. Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) Didn't get anything wrong. Will be delighted his reputation has grown¦¦8 [LNB] Attendance: 74,500 Agree with the ratings? Have your say. [LNB]